TEXAS -- A military judge has sentenced an Air Force instructor to four years in prison for raping a female trainee at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
Lt. Col. Matthew Van Dalen also sentenced Staff Sgt. Eddy Soto to a dishonorable discharge after convicting him of rape Saturday during a military trial at the base.More than 30 Lackland instructors have been investigated in the military sex scandal. Soto was the ninth trainer convicted in the scandal and sentenced to prison or hard labor.Van Dalen acquitted Soto on charges of aggravated sexual assault and wrongful sexual contact.Soto previously pleaded guilty to five counts, including having had sex with a female trainee and with the wife of a male trainee.-- The Associated PressObama to make labor secretary nominationWASHINGTON, D.C. -- Seeking to fill yet another second-term Cabinet vacancy, President Barack Obama today will nominate Thomas Perez, an assistant attorney general, to be the next secretary of labor, the White House says.If confirmed by the Senate, Perez, who has been head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, would take over the Labor Department as Obama undertakes several worker-oriented initiatives, including an overhaul of immigration laws and an increase in the minimum wage.Before taking the job as assistant attorney general, Perez was secretary of Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, which enforces state consumer rights, workplace safety, and wage and hour laws.Perez's nomination has been expected for weeks, and comes with vigorous support from labor unions and Latino groups.-- The Associated PressStudents, staff mourncoach killed in crashPENNSYLVANIA -- Somber athletes, students and school staff hugged and cried in a century-old chapel on the campus of a small Catholic university outside Pittsburgh on Sunday night, mourning the loss of a coach, mother and friend who died a day earlier along with her unborn child when the team's bus crashed on the way to a game.Members of the Seton Hill University community tearfully gathered at Saint Joseph Chapel, known on the hilltop campus as "the heart" of the school, to memorialize victims of the crash -- especially head lacrosse coach Kristina Quigley, who was remembered as warm, outgoing and a natural leader.-- The Associated Press2 women, 3 men die inshootout with soldiersMEXICO -- Prosecutors in northern Mexico say five armed people are dead after a shootout with Mexican soldiers.The five wore bandoliers and black uniform-style clothing, and had an unusual makeup: two were women, three were men.Prosecutors in northern Tamaulipas state said late Saturday that the shootout occurred earlier in the day in the border city of Reynosa, across the border from McAllen.The city has been a hotbed of drug cartel activity, but the prosecutors' office did not say whether the dead appeared to belong to a drug gang.Each of the five had a rifle. They were traveling in a pickup when the confrontation occurred.Women have been increasingly drawn into Mexico's drug war, but usually as couriers or in money laundering.-- The Associated Press17 dead from religiousprocession fireworksMEXICO -- The death toll in a gruesome fireworks explosion during a religious procession in Mexico rose to 17, after four more people died of their injuries.Hundreds of mourners gathered Sunday for a mass funeral for the first 13 victims of the blast, which occurred on Friday in Jesus Tepactepec, a village of about 1,000 people 70 miles east of Mexico City.The 13 wooden coffins were carried through the streets of the village to a local gymnasium for a Mass attended by Tlaxcala Bishop Francisco Moreno Barron, and the governor of the central state of Tlaxcala. The bishop noted that fireworks form an important part of religious celebrations in the area, but need improved safeguards.-- The Associated PressPope mixes with people outside VaticanTHE VATICAN -- Walking up to crowds, shaking hands with surprised bystanders in the street, mixing his formal speeches with off-the-cuff remarks, Pope Francis stamped his own style on the papacy Sunday.His humor and down-to-earth manner captivated those filling St. Peter's Square in Rome to overflowing, and he worked the crowd in a way that had to give his security staff palpitations.Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, in the square himself, estimated the crowd's size at 300,000."Brothers and sisters, 'Buon giorno,'" Francis said in Italian in his first welcome from the window of the papal residence.Earlier Sunday, he made an impromptu appearance before the public from a side gate of the Vatican that startled passers-by and prompted cheers as he shook hands and kissed babies.-- The Associated PressHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
